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Borough considers pipeline restoration

A new method of pipeline restoration provided by 3M is being considered by the Borough of Ridgway following a motion made by Ridgway Borough Councilman Ralph Dussia to turn the issue over to the Water and Sewer Committee."I have a proposal from 3M to do a demonstration project in our water lines for this new pipe restoration process thing they have," said Environmental Manager Paul McCurdy. "Our crew could do the excavation work necessary and 3M is funding about half of the cost of the application of this process. I think it's a good thing for us to look at as a potentially big cost saving in our water line restoration."According to McCurdy, the cost for the restoration is about one-third the cost of replacing the pipes."It's generally about a third of the cost as far as digging and replacing, and there is much less disturbance of the property," McCurdy said. McCurdy said 3M could begin to work on the project as soon as the end of summer.In other business, McCurdy suggested borough council revisit plans for capital upgrades."One thing I want us to plug into our thinking for long term capital planning is right now with PennVest, money is available at one percent and the increased cost of construction every year is going up at a rate of three or four percent, so we may want to revisit our plans to do capital upgrades with current money," McCurdy said. "Right now with money being so cheap to borrow it may be cheaper to borrow and build now rather than defer building. There are some pros and cons in each of these. It doesn't make sense to do little projects with the PennVest money or bond money, because with bonds you have a big cost to get the bonds set up and advertised and sold. With the PennVest you have to all of your engineering and permits in place to spend that money first so you have to make it a big project."Pick up a copy of the Tuesday, June 19, 2012 edition of The Ridgway Record for more.Next meetingRidgway Borough CouncilMonday, July 167 p.m.Borough Building